Lil BUB's vet, Dr. Arthur Woodruff, talks about her condition and treatment with the Assisi Loop

Jul 19, 2013

Last week we interviewed Lil BUB. Well, we interviewed BUB’s dude, who does most of the talking for her. Mike Bridavsky told us all about BUB’s special needs, and how the Loop has changed her life. If you don’t already know who BUB is, check out her site www.lilbub.com , where you can find out more about her book, and her movie. Careful, BUB is one of the cutest cats on the planet, you might lose a few hours looking at adorable pictures of her.

You will also notice BUB looks a little different. She’s a dwarf cat, and that comes with some unusual health challenges. Before finding the Loop, BUB was debilitated with pain, and was almost completely unable to walk. Luckily BUB’s vet, Arthur Woodruff found out about the Loop, and gave her a prescription. Now she’s walking and hopping again!

Dr Woodruff has been a practicing veterinarian for over 30 years, and has a unique service in that he sees most of his patients through house calls. He offers almost a full service of normal veterinary services. If you’re in Monroe County, Indiana, and need a vet, we recommend you give Dr. Woodruff a call. You can find out more about his practice at www.pethousecalls.us

We’ll let him tell you about BUB:

Dr. Woodruff: BUB was a dwarf from a normal litter of kittens, adopted in a rescue situation.. She has very stubby legs. On x-rays all of her limb bones have what we call osteo-petrosis, a very thickened cortex, very very dense marrow on the inside. A lot of curvature. She acted more normal and moved more normal as a kitten, but as her bones became more curved and more abnormal she lost the ability to do much more than crawl about. (As Mike says she could only "Army crawl.")

Lil BUB also has no teeth, she’s a polydactyl kitty. Her lower jaw is shortened, so it gives her that cute, tongue-out appearance I think a lot of her fans adore.

She’s mentally very smart, she acts like a normal cat, she’s a couple of years old now.

CJ: What exactly is her condition?

Dr. Woodruff: She’s had x-rays at my place, I’ve had a Purdue specialist evaluate the x-rays, and he was unable to put a specific name on her condition. There’s not much to do about it other than symptomatic relief of pain and inflammation.

CJ: What have you been able to do for her?

Dr. Woodruff; We have been giving her joint supplements- Glucosamine and Chondroitin as Butorphanol, which is a Dasuquin product. Which helps a little bit but didn’t seem to cause a great deal of noticeable improvement. She’s been on Prednisolone for her bouts of trouble where she seems to shake and tremble and cry out spontaneously. Mike feels she’s afraid to move when she has a flare up. The Prednisolone has seemed to help, somewhat.

He’s also been taught some kitty massage techniques. He has some doubts it does a lot but he feels it’s good interaction and she enjoys the hands-on time.

CJ: And then you heard out about the Loop?

Dr. Woodruff: Yes, at one of the movies, the Lil BUB and Friends screening, here in Bloomington, one of the fans came to the movie and we started talking. We commented how BUB probably wouldn’t have a standard length of life, and this fan said, “you know, you should try the Loop.”

CJ: We’re really glad you were open to it.

Dr. Woodruff: I have been in practice for over 30 years, so I am fairly entrenched in more western methods of medicine, but open minded enough to recognize there is more than one way to address an issue. I’m more than willing to refer people to acupuncture, massage therapy and modalities that compliment what I’m trained in. With the Loop specifically, it’s another aid that could do no harm, and if it could help minimize the use of drugs, especially Prednisolone, all the better.

CJ: How has the Loop changed things?

BUB has been having 2x a day treatment for 5 or 6 weeks, and for the first time in over a year she’s actually walking, rather than crawling. Lil BUB can almost jump up to Mike’s lap without assistance. She has had her last incidence of shaking, and there really hasn’t had any other medical treatment change other than the Loop. I would definitely say the loop is improving her quality of life.

CJ: That’s amazing. Let me be clear, you’ve seen continuous improvement over the last six weeks?

Yes, she has gradually continued to show improvements, and is much more active.

CJ: Have you started to reduce the dose of some of the pain killers?

Yes. She periodically was getting Butorphanol by mouth, and she’s had to have that for quite a while. Now she’s off it completely. She was getting the Prednisolone on alternate days, I believe she’s completely off that now as well. She is still continuing the Dasuquin supplements. (The supplements Glucosamine and Chondroitin.)

CJ: Does she show any signs of arthritis?

We haven’t taken x-rays in over a year, so to what degree arthritis is present, we can’t say. Most of her mobility issues are related to the soft tissues. Her legs are short, her bones are curved, I think it’s stretching some of the ligaments and muscles in abnormal ways. I think that causes a lot of discomfort. Radiographicaly there’s not a lot of arthritis present, just abnormal bone structure.

CJ: Probably leading to dysplasia?

Dr. Woodruff: Yes there is a degree of dysplasia present.

CJ: So if she hadn’t found the Loop, and had to stay on medications- what are the effects of Prednisolone over time?

Dr. Woodruff: It’s diabetogenic- it can make animals more susceptible to diabetes. It can affect their kidneys and liver. Over long term use it can depress the immune system and weaken the hair coat, and can make tissues less likely to heal. It’s a very potent anti-inflammatory, if you’ve got arthritis or achy muscles, it can help that. And that’s why we were using it on alternate days, we were trying to minimize any side effects. Unlike dogs and people, the NSAID’s are not that safe in cats. Some are approved for use in cats, but only for short term and not without risk of kidney damage, so we really don’t want to do something that may be more dangerous than even Prednisolone.

CJ: We’re so glad Dr. Woodruff gave the Loop a try. Much thanks to the anonymous hero who told him and BUBs Dude about it. We’ll be supporting BUB’s continued health with Loops, and we’ll check in with Mike and Dr. Woodruff again in a couple months to see how BUB continues to improve!